Disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,664,701 to Ortt, et al., whose contents are incorporated herein in their entirety by this reference, is an example of a brush assembly for an electric motor. FIG. 2 of the Ortt patent illustrates the assembly, which includes a brush, an electrical connector for the brush, and a spring. As noted in the Ortt patent, the spring functions to bias the brush into contact with an outer surface of a commutator and thereby “complete the electrical circuit between the rotating commutator and a power source.” See Ortt, col. 1, 11.26–27.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,990,594 to Hyatt, Jr., et al., whose contents, by this reference, are also incorporated herein in their entirety, details another brush assembly for use as part of an electric motor. In this assembly, coil springs are positioned within brush sleeves so as to bias brushes into contact with a commutator. Consistent with many conventional brush assemblies, however, neither the assembly of the Ortt patent nor that of the Hyatt, Jr. patent utilizes springs or other resilient materials to bias brushes away from any commutator surface during motor assembly or otherwise.